Gas lubricant compositions



United States harem Uh" 3,072,574 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,072,574 GAS LUBRICANT COMPOSITIONS Donald H. Buckley, Cleveland, and Robert L. Johnson, Fairvlew Park, Ohio, assignors to the United States of has two forming atoms and provides effective lubrication at lower temperatures, that is, below 800 F. At higher temperatures, however, corrosive Wear with the metals is experienced with CF Br To obtain the proper halogen America as represented by the Administrator of the 5 the tw? gases a be blfindfid in Opilmum RmpPr' National Aeronautics and space Administmfian tions and thus it is possible to obta n effectlve lubrlcation N D i Filed 27, 1960, SW. No. 65,543 over a broad temperature range w1thout corrosive wear. 6 Claim (Cl, 252 58) An object of this invention is to provide an extreme (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) high tempefatur lubricant- 10 An additional object of this invention is to provide a The mvenuon described herein may be manufactured high temperature lubricant comprised of the mixture of and used by or for theGovernment of the United States halogen-containing gases. of America for governmental purposes without the pay- A further object of this invention is to provide a halomentof any royalties thereon or therefor. gen-containing gas mixture for high temperature lubrica- Thls invention pertains to high temperature gas lubri- .15 tion which minimizes corrosive wear. cents and more particularly to mixtures of halogen-con- A still further object of this invention is to provide talmng ases. halogen-containing gas mixtures for high temperature Extreme high temperature lubrication is required for lubrication of surfaces in solid contact. advanced types of aerodynamic and space vehicles. For A still additional object of this invention is to provide example, in missile components such as turbodrives, enhalogen-containing gas mixtures that Will form reaction vironmental temperatures from 1000 to 1800 F. create films with various alloys wherein such films have desirable an important problem area for lubrication.- Temperatures lubricating proper-ties. of this magnitude arebeyond the useful limit of conven- Other objects and many attendant advantages of the moral organic liquids and greases and, therefore, unconpresent invention will be apparent from the following ven'tional methods of lubrication are needed. Halogendetailed description of the invention. substituted methane and similar gases are found to pro- As a basis of this invention, it has been discovered vide the necessary lubrication at the extreme high temthat a gas blend of CF Br and CF Br is found to be an peratures. A number of such gaseous compounds possess effective lubricant to 1200 F. for various metal combinaextremely good thermal stability and are capable of tions. A 1 to 1 gas blend of the two compounds was providing effective lubrication. found to provide a synergistic effect as will be seen from The mechanism for gas lubrication is similar to that the following detailed results of experimentation. encountered in extreme pressure lubrication of gears The apparatus used in determining the effect of the where reactive compounds are used as additives to oil. compounds as lubricants consists essentially of a rotating- The gases employed as lubricants are stable in contact disc specimen 2 /2 inch diameter and a hemisphericallywith metal surfaces at ambient temperatures. Where tipped rider specimen 7 inch radius. The rider specimetals are in sliding contact, however, extremely high men is stationary and in sliding contact with the rotatingfi-ash temperatures are generated at contacting metal surdisc specimen. The disc is rotated by means of an elecfaces; for example, 1100 F. above the ambient temperatrio motor through a variable-speed transmission. Loads ture in effective boundary lubrication. These temperaare applied to the rider specimen by means of a dead tures are suificient to cause localized decomposition of gas weight system. The frictional force is measured directly molecules adsorbed on the metal surface. The halogen by means of 4 strain gages mounted on a copper-beryllium atoms of the molecule are then free to react with the hot dynamometer ring. The frictional force is continuously metal surface to form metal halides which function as recorded on a strip-chart potentiometer. After the exsolid lubricants. The nature of the, metallic halides periment the wear volume is calculated from the measformed on the sliding surface and the rate at which they ured diameter of the Wear area on the rider specimen. form determine the effectiveness of the lubrication system. The compositions of various alloys used in the particular When the reaction rate is exceedingly high, an excess tests are presented in the following table:

TABLE I Typical composition, percent by weight Average Material hardness, Rockwell Fe o si Ni Cr 00 W Mo Other (3- Hastolloy o 6.0 52.0 17.0 19.0 5.0 1 11, Si. s3 Inconel X 5 to 9 0. 08 0.50 70.0 15.0 Mn, S, Al, Cb 29 Stellite 98M2 3.0 2.0 1.0 3.5 30.5 40.0 18.5 52-57 Rexal1oy33 3.0 2. 25 1.0 .25 32.5 44.0 17.0 52-55 of metallic halide may form and thus result in corrosion of the surface. For example, a corrosion problem is encountered in lubricating tool steel with a halogen-containing gas above 600 F. but the use of cobalt and nickel base alloys eliminate the corrosion problem.

In gas lubrication where surface reactions are important, the gas must have the proper halogen content. It is necessary to have sufficient halogen present in the gaseous molecule to satisfy lubrication requirements and yet not such an excess that would cause corrosion at high temperatures. The gas CF Br has a single forming atom and provides effective lubrication at high temperatures. At room temperatures, however, insufficient bromine is present to provide adequate lubrication. The gas CF Br The gaseous lubricants are introduced into a tube leader Inconel pot that encloses the disc and rider specimen. The lnconel pot is heated by means of strip heaters mounted on the outer Walls in concentric ring heaters in the base of the pot. The strip and ring heaters are controlled by individual Variac units. The temperature is measured by an Inconel-sheathed Chromel-Alumel thermocouple located along the side of the disc specimen. The temperatures which varied from to 1200 F. are read from an indicating potentiometer. The lnconel test chamber is purged for a 15-minute period prior to actual starting of the run. The specimens are brought to temperature in air before the period of purge is initiated. The gas flow at a rate of 1 liter per minute and mixtures used in the purge were the same as those employed in the run. At the completion of the purge the run-in procedure is initiated. Measurements show that less than 0.5% oxygen is present in the test chamber teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.

What is claimed:

after purge. 1. A gaseous lubricant composition consisting essen- TABLE II Rider Wear (in. /l1r. 10- Stellite 98M2 Rider Sliding on Hastelloy C Temperature, F. Air CFzBrz CFaBr 1:1 40% CFzBr, 40% CFQBIQ,

60% CFQBrz 60% CFsBl' The results of tests are shown in Table II. In all the tially of from 40 to 60 percent CF Br and from 40 to runs, the total amount of gas Was one liter per minute. Thus, in the synergistic 1:1 mixture, there was 0.5% liter per minute of each of the two gases. As can be seen, the 1:1 mixture of CF Br and CFgBf gave better wear results than either of the gases alone. The mixture of 40 percent CF Br and 66 percent CF Br additionally gave better results than the use of either of the gases alone. The mixture of 40 percent CF Br and 60 percent CF Br produced results slightly above the lowest values obtained when using the individual gases, but there still exists clear evidence of a synergistic result, as it would be expected that at 75 F. the wear would be above 0.0205 in. /hr. 1() which is the mean between the values obtained using either of the gases alone. Essentially the same results are obtained when using a Rexalloy 33 rider sliding on Inconel X.

The use of the mixture of gases set forth in this invention is not at all limited to the particular alloys set forth in the testing of the lubricant.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above 60 percent CF Br.

2. A gaseous lubricant composition consisting essentially of 50 percent CF Br and 50 percent CF Br.

3. A gaseous lubricant composition consisting essentially of 60 percent CF Br and percent CF Br.

4. A gaseous lubricant composition consisting essentially of 60 percent CF Br and 40 percent CF Br 5. A method of lubricating metal surfaces comprising the steps of enclosing said surfaces in a gastight chamber, and circulating a gaseous lubricant composition consisting essentially of from 40 to 60 percent CF Br and from 40 to 60 percent of CFgBI' through said chamber.

6. A method of lubricating metal surfaces comprising the steps of enclosing said surfaces in a gastight chamber, and circulating a gaseous lubricant composition consisting essentially of percent CF Br and 50 percent of CF Br through said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent Lubricating Engineering, November 1958, p. 454.

UNITED STATESJIPATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No a 3 ,072 ,574 January 8, 1962 Donald H. Buckley et al.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Columns 1 and 2 Table I, under the heading "WK" for, "19.0" read 5.0 same Table I under the heading "Mo for "5 00-" read 19.0

Signed and sealed this 27th day of August 1963.

(SEAL) Attest: v

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A GASEOUS LUBRICANT COMPOSITION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF FROM 40 TO 60 PERCENT CF2BR2 AND FROM 40 TO 60PERCENT CF3BR. 